Newspapers are all about storytelling and, yet, "with the crisis that we face as an industry, we don't do a great job of telling our very, very compelling story," Terry Egger, publisher and CEO of Philadelphia Media Network, told attendees at the Mega-Conference last week.

In his keynote address to 700 industry executives in Las Vegas, Egger called on newspapers across the country to establish conversations with local community and business leaders about the important role that newspapers play.

As an industry, he said we have suffered a lot of self-inflicted wounds. "We wish we had do-overs," he said, "but we don't. What we do have, though, is a compelling story that needs to be told."

Worries of impending layoffs, the frustrating search for a viable business model, concerns with all the stories they're missing thanks to smaller newsrooms. Sound familiar?

Recently, a group of 21 newspapers from around the country spent a few days at Poynter as part of the Local News Innovation program.

While nearly 100 editors and publishers were gathered together, Poynter asked a few of them some questions about their concerns, what they're excited about and what their staffs don't know about them. Among those interviewed was P.J. Browning, publisher of The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C., who is SNPA's treasurer.

Inventor Johannes Gutenberg failed 20 times when creating the printing press, but he saw its value. In comparison, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had followers within six hours because he understood social media's value.

The message that community newspapers also add great value to communities was one that presenter Penelope Muse Abernathy stressed during her "Thriving in a Networked Age" session at the 2016 News Industry Summit, held in September in Sarasota, Fla.

For all the troubles they face, and they are legion, newspapers still enjoy what matters the most for any medium: the finest of audiences. People who read newspapers are the best-educated and most affluent of any community. They have the deepest roots. They vote, they sit on school boards, they own businesses and pay taxes.

And this remains so even after years of staff cuts at dailies around the country.

Papers all around the country are looking for ways to reinvent themselves in the face of the new and brutal economics of publishing. They're bringing in consultants. They're turning to think tanks.

Where they ought to be looking for inspiration and example is under their very noses, to America's small papers, those with circulations of 10,000 to 20,000.

In this week's Futures Lab update, learn why small information websites may be the future of profitable news, how local news websites might attract more national ads, and what consumer brands can teach us about working with startups.

There are seven changes news organizations need to adopt to succeed during the reader revolution. Jim Brady, CEO of Spirited Media, lays them out in a recent post for the Reynolds Journalism Institute. They include: serving your audience first (not your newsroom) and having a point of view.

I am happy to share some good news with my fellow SNPA members. My family and I especially want to share with you some of our thinking and reasoning behind our decision. All of us (Ben, Palmer, Olivia, Eliza and me) have made a commitment to donate $25 million to the University of North Carolina's School of Media and Journalism.

This is the largest donation ever in the history of our family. We are lending our name and it will now be called the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Here's why we are doing it.